When discussing investment in information technology, owners of architecture, engineering and construction firms often cringe. IT spending is up and systems and tools can cost a bundle.
Once just a blip on company balance sheets, IT spending rose from 3.3 to 4.1% of annual revenue at AEC firms between 1996 and 2000, according to a recent survey by consultant ZweigWhite Inc. (ENR 5/28 p. 21). But some firms are finding they don’t have to break their bank accounts to remain technologically viable and have found cheaper alternatives to state-of-the-art solutions. In some cases, quality is surprisingly high.